We are currently seeking coders to assist us in implementing a prototype melee combat system for the Unity engine.

The system we wish to test covers armed and unarmed hand-to-hand combat between two or more fighters. The design came partly from our experience working on Combat Animation Enhancement, a series of animation packs for Mount and Blade: Warband (where we learnt about character animation, and the relationships between animation and mechanics), and from our understanding of the principles of historical martial arts – between us we have over twenty years of experience in Japanese martial arts and forms of European swordsmanship.

Our hope therefore is that our combat system will allow freedom, deep and emergent tactics and seamless, realistic animation based on a few broadly applied, intuitively logical rules.

We believe that the design we have developed pays homage to the best elements of a number of our inspirations (Mount and Blade: Warband, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Die by the Sword and Prince of Persia 3D) while adding important new elements drawn from our years of martial arts training.

We have created the models and animations necessary for the prototyping process, building on our experience in creating a series of animation packs for Warband called Combat Animation Enhancement – a number of these animations have been adopted by CRPG, one of Warband’s most popular mods, because they offered solutions to mechanical problems in Warband’s default animations. Our team for the prototype will be complete once we are joined by a programmer.

A trailer for our Archery animation pack for Mount and Blade: Warband; follow the link above for further videos of CAE.

We have plans for a variety of potential projects which would utilise our combat system design (including one for which we have a completed script), and we realise that gameplay is not only the first step, but also the fundamental one. For that reason, prototyping of these core mechanics is our top priority.

The mechanics of the system, and their interactions, have been planned in detail, and we are now ready to begin the implementation and testing process. For this we need a programmer who would also be willing to offer creative input and honest criticism. We believe that the implementation of the system as designed should present few problems for a suitably knowledgeable programmer – our systems are simple to describe (and should therefore be simple to code – being probably less complicated, for example, than the full set of Warband’s combat mechanics) and yet will open up a wide variety of new gameplay possibilities.
If you would like more information please send an email, including, if possible, a CV and any relevant portfolio material, to impossible.pinwheel@gmail.com.
We look forward to hearing from you.